The Zimbabwe government, which
rejects charges of flouting its own laws,served notices to acquire nearly 1
200 commercial farms in open defiance ofa Supreme Court ruling barring any
further land seizures from July thisyear, it was established this
week.

Judicial officials said the government's seizure of more farms
after July 1this year following the Supreme Court interdict was unlawful and
in contemptof the highest court in the land.

"Government clearly
acted in contempt of the Supreme Court interdict," oneofficial said,
referring to the notices to seize farms published in theofficial
media.

"There should not have been any more farm seizures until after
thegovernment had proved that it had complied with the Supreme Court
orderissued last year," the official said.

A constitutional law
expert, Welshman Ncube, said: "Any farm seizures doneby the government after
July 1 were technically unlawful and therefore incontempt of the Supreme
Court interdict."

Ncube is also shadow home affairs minister of the
opposition Movement forDemocratic Change, whose leader Morgan Tsvangirai is
seen threatening tounseat President Robert Mugabe in crucial presidential
elections due byMarch.

Mugabe, who rejects charges of suspending the
rule of law since last yearwhen he allowed his followers to violently occupy
commercial farmsnationwide, is using the land question as his main campaign
tool.

At least 35 Zimbabweans, including nine farmers, have been killed
in theongoing violence linked to the farm occupations.

According to
official statistics examined by the Financial Gazette thisweek, the
government served 529 notices of farm acquisitions on July 6, fivedays after
the Supreme Court's ruling had become operational.

Under the ruling,
initially issued in November and then confirmed inJanuary, the government
was ordered to halt any further farm seizures unlessit had produced a
workable land reform programme and ended widespreadviolence on farms. The
court said the government's land reform plan wasillegal.

The
government went on to issue another notice to acquire 420 farms on July13
and a further 234 farms were served with notices on September 7 - thelatter
just a day after the government signed up to a Nigerian-brokered dealto end
Zimbabwe's farm crisis.

A total of 1 183 farms were thus listed in
contempt of the Supreme Courtruling.

According to the Commercial
Farmers' Union (CFU), whose members are bearingthe brunt of the government's
illegal land reforms and accompanying farmseizures, 25 new farm invasions
have taken place since the Abuja accord.

A total of 900 of 1 150 farms
under occupation nationwide are unable tocontinue with normal farming
operations, a situation which is bound tocreate food shortages next season,
the CFU warned this week.

Among the 900 farms, 200 of them are tobacco
farms which cannot plant theircrop for the 2001/ 2002 season which started
last Tuesday. The CFU saidabout 25 percent of the irrigated tobacco crop had
not been planted.

Last week and this week a reconstituted bench of the
Supreme Court has beenhearing an appeal by the government over the Supreme
Court's ruling inJanuary. The court yesterday reserved judgment in the
matter.

The government, which argues that it has a lawful land reform in
place, hassince complied with the earlier Supreme Court ruling and wants to
continueacquiring more farms for resettlement.

It was reported by The Insider that Zimbabwe’s
Commercial Bank of Zimbabwe, otherwise known as the Jewel Bank, has posted net
profit increase from $40 million four years ago to $397 million in the half year
to June 2001. Interest income increased from $2.7 billion to $3.4 billion and
net income also reportedly rose 223% from $417.4 million to $1.3 billion.
==========

Zimbabwe: Inniscor
posts increase in profits by 107%

It was reported that Zimbabwe food company Innscor has had an
84% increase in sales to Z$6.9 billion. Net profit was also up 107% from Z$246.5
million to Z$510.1 million. Local sales were up as well as regional sales up
125%, accounting for 9% of total sales.

The company recorded an increase
in bread sales and a decrease in fast food sales. ================

Zimbabwe: First Bank
increases profits 363% for the first half of 2001

The Insider reported that Zimbabwe’s First Bank posted a
before tax profit increase of 327% from $51.4 million to $219.5 million in the
first half of 2001. Net profit was up 363% from $32.9 million to $152.3 million.
First bank listed on the stock exchange in
June.

===========

Zimbabwe: Interfin
Merchant Bank posts a 706% increase in net profit for the first half of
2001

Interfin Merchant Bank for Zimbabwe has reportedly posted a
706% increase in net profit from $11.5 million to $93.1 million in the first
half of 2001. The Insider reported that the bank posted a 1310% increase in net
interest income from $12.5 million to $176.3
million.

THE British Council in conjunction
with the Scientific and IndustrialResearch and Development Centre (SIRDC),
this week held a seminar in Harareto deliberate on the need to develop an
innovative knowledge society inZimbabwe.

The meeting brought together
a group of key Zimbabwean stake-holders fromthe private and public and
sectors.

Some of the people who attended the meeting were secretary for
educationsports and culture, Washington Mbizvo, Fortune Mhlanga, director
ofinformatics and electronics institute at SIRDC, Bernard Makam,
assistantresident representative of UN development programme and Nicholas
Bromley ofe-business managing consultant, positive focus of UK.

Busi
Dube, the SIRDC public relations manager, said this is the seventhseries of
high level Horizon 2010 seminars that are organised by the
BritishCouncil.

“We live in the knowledge age, and access to
information rather than capitalis the critical factor in both individual and
national competitive-ness andsuccess.

“Access to the right
information at the right time allows individuals toreach their full
potential by providing appropriate data on education,employment, healthcare,
and citizenship,” said Dube. She said when a nation’s citizens are optimally
productive and engaged, the nation can compete onequal terms with others in
the global market.

Dube said the main driver of the knowledge age over
the last two decades wasthe rapid development in information and
communication technologies (ICTs).

However, the benefits of ICTs were
only restricted to urban areas especiallyin developing countries where the
majority of the country’s citizens live inrural areas where there is no
electricity.

People in rural areas send their children to understaffed,
under-equippedschools, and struggle every day to feed their families, said
Dube. She saidthe proliferation of ICTs will be confined to the top level of
society andthe gap between informa-tion rich and information poor will
increase. “Thereis worrying evidence everywhere that the “digital divide” is
furthermarginalising the poorest of the world’s peoples.

“On the
other hand, most pundits suggest that the risks of not developing anICT
infrastructure are even greater, dooming a country to
marginalisationglobally.” Among African nations, Zimbabwe scores relatively
highly on theICT scorecard.

There are only 11 African countries with
more than 20 000 Internetsubscribers and Zimbabwe is one of only 10
countries with high outgoingbandwidth.

However, less than one in
every 50 Zimbabweans has a telephone at home andonly 13 people per 1000 own
computers (in comparison, 55 South Africans perthousand own computers, and
511 for Americans). Dube said developing aninnovative knowledge society in
Zimbabwe’ will focus on practical, concretesteps that can be taken in the
various sectors to forward Zimbabwe’s agendain this area.

In spite of advanced preparations, the
Commonwealth Secretariat in Londonhas confirmed that the Brisbane
Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetingwill be postponed until early next
year. Catherine McGrath reports.

There's disappointment but not surprise
in Brisbane, where hundreds ofworkers were this morning still putting the
finishing touches to theevent.Ian Townsend
reports.HELP

All are involved in decisions surrounding
the attacks on America and manywere likely to be absent from the
meeting.

This morning, Mr Howard toured the meeting venue in Brisbane,
warningworkers that CHOGM could be postponed.

"At the moment I'd be
less than honest with you if I didn't at least putthat possibility on the
table, it's not something we can control," the PrimeMinister said.

Mr
McKinnon says the Prime Minister is keen to host the meeting in
Brisbaneearly next year and will be discussing the exact timing with the
Queen andother world leaders.

Queen

The Queen's scheduled
visit to Australia has also been postponed until nextyear.

As head of
the Commonwealth she was due to open CHOGM, and also visitCanberra and
Adelaide.

Meanwhile, CHOGM protest organiser Karen Fletcher says the
people's march,which was scheduled to coincide with the meeting's opening,
will still gohead.

"We want to make the point that we have to have
some form of social justicein the world if we're going to prevent
terrorism," Ms Fletcher said.

"We don't think a war is the answer and the
focus had changed even though itlooked like CHOGM was going ahead, the focus
has completely changed topeace."

Governor-General

The
Governor-General, Dr Peter Hollingworth, says he is disappointed CHOGMhas
been cancelled.

"I share the sad feelings of those people who have spent
many, many hours oftheir time preparing for this event," Dr Hollingworth
said.

"I simply want to say, take heart, it will happen.

"Clearly
it's not propitious to hold such a large gathering of heads ofmajor nations
throughout the world in one place at this time."

The week under review witnessed increasingly
hysterical attempts by thestate controlled media to convince its audiences
that the government hadfulfilled its obligations to the Abuja Accord but
that white farmers andex-Rhodesian racists resident in Australia were
attempting to bury theagreement by discrediting the government's land
reforms at the upcomingCommonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in
Brisbane. In order toreinforce this profoundly warped perspective, the state
media againabandoned all standards of ethical journalism by attributing the
recentdeaths of two "settlers" on one commercial farm in Wedza to the white
farmowner who is alleged to have instructed his farm workers to attack
thesettlers as they arrived to occupy allocated plots on the farm. It
isnotable that the state media were able to do this by relying on
policestatements and the fact that the farmer and 30 of his workers were
broughtto court facing charges of murder. They have not yet been convicted.
Relyingon the observation of a government official, the state Press (17/9)
referredto the incident as an attempt to discredit the government's land
reformprogramme and linked it to the earlier death of a settler in Odzi
attributedto a white farmer and an alleged attack on settlers by white
farmers in theChinhoyi area which led to widespread looting. The incident
providedPresident Mugabe with the opportunity to warn white farmers to
"stopinciting farm workers to attack resettled farmers" Zimpapers (22/9).
Thus animpression was created that white farmers were responsible for the
violenceon the farms, and The Herald's editorial (18/9) confirmed this
view:"Reports of fresh farm occupations are nothing but creations of
unrepentantwhite commercial farmers bent on rolling back land reforms in
Zimbabwe. Theyhave stage-managed beatings, massive looting and now fresh
farmoccupations.... as part of a wider campaign to discredit the
government,"the paper said. The privately owned Press however, provided
readers withprofoundly different perspectives of the events during the week
and theirpolitical implications, including reports in two newspapers (The
FinancialGazette 20/9, and The Zimbabwe Mirror 21/9) that the settlers
themselveswere responsible for the deaths of their two colleagues at Bita
Farm inWedza, although the papers' versions of how they died
differed.

2. ABUJA & CHOGM

In a well orchestrated campaign to
promote the government's perspective ofthe Abuja meeting at the expense of
all other interpretation, ZBC andZimpapers provided extensive coverage of
government officials responding tothe ruling party Politburo's endorsement
of the agreement. ZTV (17/9 8pm)quoted ZANU (PF)'s secretary for
administration, Emmerson Mnangagwa saying:"We believe that a way has been
found to move forward. We also tookcognizance of the fact that now the
British government has come on board tosupport land reform in this country."
The next morning (18/9), Zimpapers'dailies (The Herald and The Chronicle),
reported that the Politburo hadhailed "Britain's confirmation of its
commitment to make a significantcontribution to a land reform programme and
undertaking to encourage otherinternational donors to do the same...." The
papers also quoted InformationMinister Jonathan Moyo, saying: "The Politburo
noted that the next step tomove the Abuja agreement forward is for the donor
community, co- ordinatedby the UNDP...to prepare a project proposal for the
purpose of setting up afund to support Zimbabwe's land reform in terms of
the Abuja agreement." Andby merely referring to the conditions relating to
Zimbabwe's commitment tothe agreement as "reaffirming its commitment to
implement the (land reform)exercise according to the country's constitution
and laws," the paper gavethe impression that it was now up to the
international community to devise amechanism for Britain to hand over the
funds. That evening (18/9) on ZTV(8pm) Moyo was again quoted echoing the
comments of Mashonaland Eastresident Governor, David Karimanzira, in the
previous day's Herald blamingwhite commercial farmers for stage-managing
fresh farm occupations and newincidents of violence. In the story announcing
the death of two settlers onBita Farm in Wedza, The Herald (17/9) quoted
Karimanzira responding torecent allegations in the privately owned Press
that previous incidents ofviolence in his province were a result of clashes
between resettled farmersand local villagers: "These are obvious lies.
Commercial farmers areinciting their workers to stop settlers from being
resettled." But the papernever asked for any evidence to support his claims.
On ZTV (18/9) Moyo wasquoted contradicting his claim of the previous week
that there had been nonew farm invasions: "As far as allegations of new
occupations, yes therehave been some, but these have been isolated. And some
of them appear tohave been instigated by pseudo-criminal elements from some
political partiesand some working in collusion with some commercial farmers
who are trying toundermine the Abuja agreement..." Moyo was not asked to
provide evidence forhis claims either and nor were political parties or
commercial farmers askedto comment on them. The private press, however,
highlighted the missingingredient from the state media's interpretation of
the Abuja agreement byexplaining that unless and until the government put an
end to the illegalinvasion of commercial farms and restored the rule of law,
the agreement wassimply a waste of time and paper. Viewing the accord as "a
God-sentopportunity for Mugabe to tactfully retreat from his most
unfortunate egotrip without appearing to surrender or losing too much
face..." an editorialin The Daily News (22/9) explained that British funding
could only bereleased once Zimbabwe had fulfilled the conditions in the
Abuja agreementrelating to government's obligations. In a clear response to
Zimpapers'reportage, The Daily News dismissed the Politburo's endorsement of
theagreement as a "little ceremony" meant to buy time and avert the
impositionof sanctions. The editorial endorsed observations originally
published byThe Zimbabwe Independent the previous week that President Mugabe
was usingthe pact as a way of avoiding hostility at CHOGM. The daily
specificallydisputed the Politburo's expectations that the next step would
be for theUNDP to co- ordinate a project proposal for the hand-over of
British funds,saying that government was first obliged to restore law and
order beforeZimbabwe could expect any external support. According to the
paper, thismeans, "disbanding Joseph Chinotimba's paramilitary group of
outlaws; endingall farm invasions; dismantling all "war veterans bases" set
upstrategically all over the country; removing all illegal farm
occupants;restoring the police force's full autonomy; restoring the
independence ofthe Judiciary; ending the harassment of journalists and
political opponentsand restoring Press freedom." Surprisingly however, The
Daily Newscompletely ignored a parliamentary debate on the Abuja accord in
which MDCMP Munyaradzi Gwisai, defied party policy by objecting to the idea
ofcompensating white farmers, as reported in The Herald (20/9) and repeated
onSaturday (22/9). In its Behind the Words column, The Zimbabwe Mirror
(21/9)did not blame any political party for the violence, but insisted that
warveterans' representative, Joseph Chinotimba, should be stopped in
hisviolent actions. In the week under review, Zimpapers resorted to
theextensive use of anonymous "sources" and "analysts" to
manufacturepropaganda about white farmers who had "teamed up" with hundreds
of ex-Rhodie racists resident in Australia to bankroll the MDC's delegation
to theCHOGM summit with plans to discredit the government and "rubbish land
reformin Zimbabwe". The paper provided no evidence to support any of these
wildclaims. This first appeared in a front-page story in The Herald (20/9).
Thefollowing day, The Herald accused the Australian government of
sponsoringthe travel costs of an MDC plan to send youths to CHOGM to
demonstrateagainst President Mugabe. It stated without a shred of
corroborativeevidence that there was bitter hatred in Australia against
Zimbabwe,especially among its Cabinet ministers, and wrongly estimated
theex-Rhodesian population in Canberra alone to be between 300 000 and 400
000and "about 80 000" in Brisbane. It made no effort to check these figures
andno comment was sought from the Australian government or any
otheridentifiable source to lend this nonsense any credibility. So it was
hardlysurprising that the state daily was obliged to carry a sharp rebuke in
itsletters column the next day (22/9) from the Australian High Commissioner
toZimbabwe, Jonathan Brown. He told The Herald's readers that Australia
wasonly sponsoring two youths from the Youth Ministry of Zimbabwe for
aseparate agenda. And, citing a 1996 census, Brown said the population
ofthe whole of Canberra was 307 000 and the number of all
Zimbabwean-bornpeople living in Australia was only 8 953. MMPZ strongly
condemns such crudemisinformation and the peddling of lies as fact. Despite
this rebukehowever, President Mugabe took the opportunity provided by the
inventions ofhis own media to attack the MDC. The Herald (22/9) published
the story ofthe President insisting that CHOGM was a meeting for
Commonwealth heads ofstate and ZBC also weighed in with its own coverage of
the President'sremarks. Describing the MDC leadership as 'mad men' ZTV (22/9
7am) alsoquoted the President as saying, "...look at them they want to go
toBrisbane. As what? Brisbane is for heads of states and he (MDC leader
MorganTsvangirai) is not a head of state. They are sending the youths to do
what?Of course they have a lot of money to waste..." ZBC (ZTV,
21/9,8pm)castigated the international media for reporting new farm invasions
andquoted unnamed observers saying that such reports were meant to
discreditthe government ahead of the CHOGM summit. The police and the
minister ofAgriculture, Joseph Made, were quoted denying the reports.
However, sinceJonathan Moyo had agreed that there had been isolated new farm
invasions(see above ZTV 18/9) these denials should be dismissed as futile
attempts tocreate the impression that there had been no new occupations. No
comment wassought from the CFU for corroboration. But it could be found in
TheFinancial Gazette (20/9), which reported that violence had intensified
onthe farms despite the Abuja agreement. Referring to CFU statistics,
theweekly reported that 20 new farms had been invaded since the signing of
theAbuja agreement and that 570 tobacco farms were currently affected by
workstoppages related to the land issue, resulting in a loss of US$225
million.The paper also quoted the CFU's deputy director Gerry Grant saying:
"Thereis no change regarding the situation on the farms. In actual fact,
there isincreased violence."

3. POLITICAL VIOLENCE & BITA
FARM

The Herald carried 11 reports of political violence in the week,
eight ofthem about the incident at Bita Farm. By comparison, The Daily News
carried16 far more diverse reports of political violence, including
anextraordinary attack on senior Harare City Council employees led by
JosephChinotimba (18/9). The Zimbabwe Independent (21/9) carried a harrowing
storyabout "a campaign of violence against white commercial farmers
(that)continues unabated on undesignated farms..." Quoting unnamed
commercialfarmers the paper said "senior politicians were operating in
cahoots witharmy officers, the police and CIO officers to spread terror and
evict thefarmers." It reported that CIO officers had settled on properties
evacuatedby farmers and attempted to obtain comment from the CIO and the
policewithout success. ZBC's coverage of political violence was constructed
insuch a way as to portray white commercial farmers as the perpetrators.
Thestate broadcaster also used the Bita Farm incident as a new
phenomenoncalculated to undermine the Abuja agreement. ZANU PF officials
were widelyquoted accusing farmers of instigating violence to discredit the
governmentin the eyes of the international community. In its initial report
of theBita farm incident (ZTV, 17/9, 8pm), ZBC's news reader, stated that
therewas confusion over how the two settlers had died, with some reports
allegingthey had been murdered, while others stated that they had died in
anaccident. Any professional broadcaster would have pursued both angles.
Butthis was not the case at ZBC; the reporter ignored the 'accident' angle
andemphasized the 'murder' angle. A settler, war vets, Home Affairs
Minister,John Nkomo, and police spokesman, Assist. Comm. Wayne Bvudzijena,
werequoted to corroborate ZBC's stance. The incident was only reported on
Radio2/4 the following day (18/9, 8pm). One of the settlers (ZTV, 17/9,
8pm)stated that when the settlers were attacked the police were there. But
thepolice were not asked why they did not intervene. In the same
bulletinNkomo was quoted accusing white farmers of perpetrating violence,
saying,"It is an unfortunate development given that we had hoped that the
farmerswere now ready to reconcile and of course, given that we just had the
Abujaunderstanding...and some farmers still assign themselves that task of
beingviolent" The farmers were not given the right of reply. The Herald that
day(17/9) only reported that police in Marondera and Harare had confirmed
theattack and merely stated, without any attribution, that the settlers
hadbeen stoned to death in a stampede after the windscreen of the truck
theywere in had been shattered. MMPZ condemns the publication of such
seriousallegations without any corroboration whatsoever. Bvudzijena was also
quoted(ZTV, 20/9, 8pm) accusing commercial farmers of perpetrating
violence,further reinforcing ZANU PF's stance without being questioned by
thenational broadcaster to provide some evidence for his claims: "We will
liketo believe that some of these incidences are calculated to uphold
thatnotion that there is no rule of law in the country. We find
entrenchedpositions particularly by the white farmers whom, in our opinion
and from apolicing perspective, would not like to release the land hence
createsituations where violence erupts..." Mugabe went a step further and
warnedthe farmers not to take the law into their own hands by evicting
resettledfarmers (all radio and ZTV, 21/9, 8pm). Implications of such
threats werenot subjected to any interrogation by ZBC or Zimpapers, which
carried histhreats the next day. Zimpapers' first report of the Bita Farm
incident(17/9), gratuitously stated that "The latest attacks on resettled
farmers bycommercial farmers fly in the face of both Abuja and SADC
initiatives to seean amicable end to the country's land crisis." The
Financial Gazettehowever, rekindled ZBC's 'accident' angle to the Bita Farm
incident. Quotingthe farmer's son, Peter, the paper reported that the
resettled farmers hadbeen sent to attack his father. The source also said
that those who had diedhad fallen off a truck and were crushed to death in a
stampede. This theorywas partly supported by evidence in a Zimbabwe Mirror
story (21/9), whichquoted guards at the farm as saying that one of the
settlers had beencrushed when one of the trucks bringing them had run him
over by accident,while the second was axed to death by a colleague who had
mistaken him for afarm worker. Zimpapers (21/9) carried an article quoting
Minister Moyodenying the existence of any violence in Zimbabwe, which he
described as"phantom." The incident also resulted in the assault of
journalists. TheDaily News (18/9) gave front-page prominence to the assault
of its newscrew, reportedly by farm invaders, and merely reported the deaths
andinjuries at the farm at the end of its story. The paper reported that
thenews crew was accused of being sent by the MDC and the British and that
TheDaily News was "scuttling" government's land reforms. Significantly
however,the paper did not report that the news team had misrepresented
themselves ascoming from The Herald. In an attempt to justify the attack,
The Heraldpicked up the story the next day, blaming the victims for having
invitedtheir assault by lying about which news organization they belonged
to.Quoting villagers, it was reported that The Daily News journalists
hadfalsely introduced themselves as Herald reporters. In both reports, the
armypresence was referred to without questioning their role in the
landprogramme.

4. CONSTITUTIONAL COURT

The judiciary returned
to the headlines during the week; this time as aresult of the government's
application to have its current fast trackresettlement programme endorsed by
the Supreme Court, sitting as aconstitutional tribunal. The story received
wide coverage in the media whenit took on controversial proportions after
the CFU's legal representative,Adrian de Bourbon, had requested that Chief
Justice Godfrey Chidyausikurecuse himself from hearing the application.
Initially, The Daily News(18/9) reported that Chidyausiku had sidelined
three of the country's mostsenior judges who had opposed the present
manifestation of land reform. Italso provided background to the application.
The Daily News (20/9) simplyreported the heated exchanges in the proceedings
of the court during whichDe Bourbon earned the ire of the Bench when he
accused the Chief Justice ofbeing biased in favour of the government's
present land reforms. He alsoquestioned why Chidyausiku had not selected the
three most senior judges tohear the application. But unforgivably, The Daily
News (21/9) failed toreport the second day's proceedings at all; the case
simply disappeared fromthe paper, except for a rather clumsy comment
reminding its readers thatgovernment's campaign to remove Chidyausiku's
predecessor had containedracist sentiments. The Herald (20/9) also carried a
detailed report of thefirst day's proceedings under the front-page headline,
CFU ApplicationDismissed, which also contained Chidyausiku's assertion that
remarks in theCFU affidavit were "absolute (sic) racist". And the state
daily continued tofollow the proceedings on it front page the following day.
But earlier, TheHerald (19/9) set the tone of the debate before the hearing
had even startedwhen it discovered the CFU's application. It quoted unnamed
"legal experts""a senior white judge" and "a diplomatic source" to construct
an argumentthat the CFU's efforts to have the Chief Justice recuse himself
was racistand that the selection of Supreme Court judges and their
objectivity weremore open to question before Chidyausiku became Chief
Justice. The ZimbabweIndependent (21/9) however, set the record straight
with an incisive andirrefutable editorial that brought together the
rationale for the violenceon the farms, the selective activities of the
police and the bias of thejudiciary under the headline, Courts Can No Longer
Uphold Rights. It pointedout that two of the judges appointed to hear the
government's application"...are listed by the Ministry of Lands as
recipients of leases of landoriginally earmarked for peasant resettlement.
In other words, they arebeneficiaries of government patronage in a scheme
riddled with controversy.""What we have in Zimbabwe now is the appearance of
law without thesubstance," the editorial noted and concluded: "Whether the
courts are anylonger able to defend the democratic rights of Zimbabweans
remains to beseen. Going by this week's proceedings this looks unlikely."
But while theupper echelons of the judiciary are now clearly mired in
controversy,persistent reports in the privately owned Press in recent weeks
indicatethat there are magistrates who are resolutely standing up to the
pressurethat is being brought to bear on the judicial system. In the week
underreview, The Daily News (19/9) reported that Harare magistrate
WestonNyamwanza refused to place on remand the MDC's vice-chairman of
MashonalandCentral on allegations of attempting to murder a ZANU PF
supporter inBindura in the run-up to the by-election there. The paper
reported that thepolice arrested the man the previous week despite the fact
that Binduramagistrate Munamato Mutevedzi, had thrown out the State's
request to placehim and six other MDC members on remand in July, facing a
lesser charge ofpublic violence over the same incident. Nyamwanza was
reported as accusingthe police of treating the judicial system as a
"shopping forum formagistrates". The incident related to an attack on MDC
president MorganTsvangirai's convoy in Bindura, which the state media
originally describedas an MDC attack on a ZANU PF base in the constituency.
The story follows anearlier report in The Zimbabwe Independent (14/9) of the
previous week of aBulawayo magistrate accusing senior police officers in
Matabeleland of"panel-beating" a case in order to prosecute three MDC
security officers whowere arrested and detained on the eve of the Bulawayo
mayoral election oncharges of illegally possessing weapons, described by the
police as "arms ofwar". Despite evidence submitted to the court that the MDC
had providedlicences for the weapons to the police at the time, the state
media reportedthat the police had found "massive arms caches" at the homes
of the accused.The paper reported provincial magistrate, John Masimba, as
saying:"Actually, there was a lot of panel-beating in this case in a bid to
enablethe state to prosecute the accused. Most of the evidence in this case
isincoherent...I do not see any reason why this court should not grant bail
tothe three accused because, according to the evidence...this case is not
asserious as the police want it to appear." The state media has made no
effortto report these cases to correct the impressions it first gave its
audiencesat the time the incidents occurred. MMPZ condemns the complicity of
thepolice in its biased and selective conduct and the state media
forperpetuating these unbalanced and shameful efforts by the police to
subvertjustice.Ends

The MEDIA UPDATE is produced and distributed
by the Media Monitoring ProjectZimbabwe, 221 Fife Avenue,
Harare,Tel/fax: 263 4 703702,E-mail: monitors@mweb.co.zwWeb: http://www.icon.co.zw/mmpzSend all
correspondence to the Project Coordinator.Feel free to circulate this
report

Australia needed to press the Commonwealth Heads of Government
Meeting topush for monitors in Zimbabwe to ensure a free and fair election
there, MPswere told today.

A delegation from Zimbabwe, including
farmer Vernon Nicolle, journalistBenhilda Chanetsa and economist John
Robertson, said sanctions againstZimbabwe President Robert Mugabe may be
needed if next year's election wasrigged.

Members of the group met
government and opposition MPs to highlight thesituation in Zimbabwe, where
Mr Mugabe has seized whiteowned farms andreturned them to socalled veterans
of the independence war of the late1970s.

That process and the
accompanying breakdown of law and order has beencondemned by Zimbabwe's
opposition parties and independent press and byAfrican and western
nations.

Mr Mugabe says he will attend CHOGM in Brisbane from October 69
but itremains unclear whether he will actually turn up to confront the
expectedavalanche of criticism.

Ms Chanetsa, a reporter with the
independent weekly The Standard, said sheand her colleagues faced routine
intimidation, threats and violence forreporting the government's
activities.

"It should be stressed we need a free and fair election so
election monitorsare important," she said.

"If we don't have a free
and fair election, some kind of sanctions are goingto have to be imposed on
Zimbabwe."

She said one type of sanction which would not harm the already
sufferingZimbabwean people would be restrictions on travel to foreign
countries by MrMugabe and members of his government.

Presidential
elections are due to be held in Zimbabwe early next year.

Mr Nicolle said
Mr Mugabe had become a dictator and he would almostcertainly lose office in
a free and fair election.

"We feel that the only way to bring these
people to book is by freezingtheir bank accounts. They have got millions,"
he said.

"It goes beyond him. His henchmen are there as well."

Mr
Robertson said those occupying the farms would become subsistencefarmers,
having no title to the land, paying no wages and salaries to formerfarm
workers and exporting no produce.

He said the nation's food production
was falling and up to a million peoplefaced starvation.

Millionaire landlord and property developer, Nicholas van
Hoogstraten, afriend of President Mugabe, was formally charged with the
murder of a formerbusiness associate in Britain on Monday.

The Daily
Telegraph of the United Kingdom reported yesterday that VanHoogstraten, 58,
had been arrested, questioned and bailed by officers fromthe serious crime
group of the Metropolitan Police two months ago.He was arrested as part of
their investigation into the contract killing ofMohammed Raja, 62, a wealthy
businessman who was shot and stabbed at hishome in Sutton, Surrey, in July
1999.

On Monday, Van Hoogstraten arrived at Bexleyheath police station,
south-eastLondon.Detectives charged him with murder and conspiracy to
murder. He was due toappear before Bexley magistrates yesterday.Police
questioned him in July after they found that Raja was suing him overa
business dispute. Raja, who had recently retired, was attacked by twomasked
men on his doorstep.A van thought to have been used by the killers was found
abandoned.

In March, David Croke, 58, unemployed, from Brighton, was
charged withmurdering Raja. He is in custody awaiting trial.Last year,
the British tycoon said he was funding individual Zanu PFpoliticians in
return for the safety of his properties in Zimbabwe. He sayshe has funded
Zanu PF since the 1960s when he acquired land in Zimbabwe.Van Hoogstraten,
according to The Daily Telegraph, has become notorious as alandlord and for
his clashes with ramblers after blocking public footpathsat Framfield, East
Sussex.

When the leisure walkers complained that he had blocked rights of
way withbarbed wire, he condemned them as “scum” and the “great unwashed”.
Heflouted court orders to reopen the paths and his former
company,Rarebargain, which owns the land, has failed to pay £15 000(Z$1
200 000) in fines.

Van Hoogstraten made his money from property ownership
in Britain, includinghotels, and from mining in Zimbabwe. He has a fortune
estimated at £185million (Z$14,8 billion) and owns many properties,
particularly in Hove, UK.

He has five children sired with three women and
owns homes in America,France, Zimbabwe and the West Indies. He is rated as
Britain¹s 140th richestman. He is building a £40 million (Z$3,2 billion)
mansion at Framfield,which is said to be the most expensive new home in
Britain. In Zimbabwe, itis understood he owns nine farms, covering 400 000
hectares.He is a friend of Mugabe and has supported his land seizure
programme. Lastyear, Van Hoogstraten said he was one of Zanu PF¹s
long-standing financialbackers. “I am in bed with his Zanu PF party,” he
said of Mugabe.

He boasted that none of his farms would be designated,
and has brandedZimbabwean commercial farmers “white trash”.However, two
of his farms, Eastdale Estates in Masvingo and Essexvale Ranchin
Matabeleland North, have been designated for compulsory acquisition.Cephas
Msipa, the Midlands Governor, said Van Hoogstraten had agreed to handover
the whole of Central Estates in the Midlands, and Hayhill Farm
inMatabeleland South. His five properties, with 28 000 cattle, were,
however,invaded by people claiming to be war veterans late last year.

Talks
between white farmers and the Zimbabwean government over land seizuresand
lawlessness on farms have collapsed in deadlock, both sides
saidyesterday.

Adrian de Bourbon, the lawyer for the Commercial
Farmers Union, said ameeting late on Monday with Patrick Chinamasa, the
Justice Minister, hadmade no progress. Officials at the union, which
represents 4,000 whitefarmers, hoped to discuss with Mr Chinamasa efforts to
implement a dealbrokered earlier this month by mediators in Abuja, Nigeria,
to end violenceand restore the rule of law.

Mr de Bourbon told the
Supreme Court in Harare: "In light of the attitude ofthe Minister of
Justice, it is regretted no progress was made at all."

The court had
adjourned a hearing on Friday in which the government soughtto overturn a
ruling in December last year that its programme to seizewhite-owned farmland
for redistribution to landless blacks was illegal. Thecourt had asked both
sides to hold talks on the Abuja deal, reached on 6September, as a way of
resolving their differences and possibly to softenthe acrimonious legal case
involving the government's plan to seize 4,500farms.

The State
Attorney, Bharat Patel, said yesterday he had hoped that wouldhappen but
added, "it seems there is a divide that cannot be bridged".

The deal, put
together by ministers of the Commonwealth of Britain and itsformer
territories, called for law and order to be restored in farmingdistricts in
return for aid from Britain and other donors.

President Robert Mugabe had
promised to abide by the accord, but othersdoubted whether he could rein in
violence by the ruling Zanu-PF partymilitants, who have illegally occupied
1,700 white-owned farms since March2000.

Two weeks after Abuja,
militants' intimidation of farm labourers had led toa shutdown of about 500
white-owned farms. The union said that thousands offarm workers had been
driven from their homes and a further 21 propertieshad been occupied by
militants.

Mr Mugabe, who left on Tuesday for a trip to Malaysia,
Singapore and Vietnambefore a Commonwealth summit in Brisbane, Australia, on
6 October, isexpected to be asked to report to Commonwealth leaders on his
compliancewith the land agreement.

PRESIDENT MUGABE has
taken advantage of the terrorist attacks on America totighten his grip on
Zimbabwe.As the pressure on him to honour pledges made at the Commonwealth
meeting inAbuja has eased, he has stepped up the onslaught against his
opponents andhas barely implemented a deal brokered by Nigeria on his
country’s landproblem.

Lawyers for the Commercial Farmers’ Union
(CFU) disclosed yesterday that theGovernment had cut short the negotiations
with white farmers over theimplementation of the Abuja deal, as urged by the
Supreme Court.

Adrian de Bourbon, representing the CFU, said that there
had been “noprogress at all” in a meeting on Monday between senior union
officials andPatrick Chinamasa, the Justice Minister.

The Supreme
Court, where the CFU is again contesting the Government’sillegal seizures of
land, had urged both parties to open dialogue along thelines of the accord
drafted by Commonwealth foreign ministers on September6. The agreement
commits Zimbabwe to restoring the rule of law to thebattered white farming
areas and to carrying out legal and sustainable landreform.

“The CFU
hoped to be able to pursue discussions which could lead to theimplementation
of the Abuja accord and to engage Government in domesticdialogue,” Mr de
Bourbon said, “but in the light of the attitude of theMinister of Justice,
it is regretted that no progress was made at all andthe door was closed to
approaches to others in Government.”

Bharat Patel, the Deputy
Attorney-General, confirmed that there was “adivide which cannot be bridged”
between the two parties. He said that he hada “very different perception” of
how Monday’s meeting had gone, but did notelaborate.

In court,
neither Mr de Bourbon nor CFU officials would give further detailsof the
meeting, but legal sources said that Mr Chinamasa “was not interestedin
Abuja”. They said that he had ordered the union not to try to open talkswith
other senior government figures.

Mr de Bourbon pointed out to the court
that five southern AfricanPresidents, at a meeting in Harare on September
11, had endorsed the Abujaagreement and demanded that Zimbabwe hold talks
with civic bodies inZimbabwe, including the CFU.

Mr Chinamasa’s
attitude appears to confirm doubts about Zimbabwe’s sinceritywhen the
agreement was concluded. Critics say that violence and intimidationis Mr
Mugabe’s only strategy for presidential elections due by March and
theimplementation of Abuja would mean defeat for him. “It looks like he’ll
dragit out for as long as possible before (the Commonwealth summit
in) Brisbane,” a Western diplomat said.

It took Mr Mugabe more than
two weeks to put the agreement before hisCabinet and the senior officials of
his ruling Zanu (PF) party. At theweekend, after a meeting with the party
central committee, he told the statepress that the Government “was not
placing all its hopes on the pact”.

Far from displaying any immediate
intention to end 19 months of lawlessnesson white-owned farms, Mr Mugabe
said that the Government “would be able totake a position on compliance”
only after a nationwide “education process”to explain the
deal.

Peter Tatchell, the gay rights campaigner, accused the
Australian Governmentof barring his entry to Brisbane to campaign for the
arrest of PresidentMugabe at the Commonwealth summit over fears that he
would cause adiplomatic incident.

Zimbabwe's Finance Minister Simba Makoni will in two weeks
present tocabinet recommendations for a devaluation of the Zimbabwe dollar,
the'Zimbabwe Independent' said on Friday.

The report said the attempt
by Makoni to convince cabinet to sanction adevaluation of the local dollar
against the US dollar would be the third bythe minister in three months
following foiled attempts vigorously resistedby President Robert Mugabe and
his colleagues in June.

It added that the reserve Bank governor
Leonard Tsumba had submittedrecommendations to Makoni for a devaluation
after complaints by airlinerepresentatives and bankers following threats
that the government wanted toimpose strict sanctions on the foreign exchange
market. The government hasbanned airlines from quoting their fares in
parallel market rates which hadsoared to 350 Zimbabwe dollars against the US
dollar compared to theofficial exchange rate of 55 Zimbabwe dollars to the
US dollar. Mugabe'scabinet supporters have in the past argued that a
devaluation of thecurrency would be an act of economic sabotage.

A coalition of churches, civic groups, political parties and students has
launched a ''democratic'' draft constitution demanding that it be adopted before
next year's presidential elections.

The most serious problem in our current constitution is an
all-powerful president with all sorts of powers

Douglas MwonzoraNCA spokesman

The NCA spearheaded the successful campaign against a new constitution in
February 2000, which gave President Robert Mugabe his first ever electoral
defeat.

'We are headed for exciting times,'' said Lovemore Madhuku, National
Constitutional Assembly chairperson and constitutional law expert.

The NCA said it will campaign against any party that rejects the draft
constitution in next year's presidential elections and could even encourage mass
protests.

Ceremonial president

''If any person believes that this current constitution will deliver change,
then that person is mad. It is not up to the government to decide but up to the
people to decide,'' said Mr Madhuku.

Madhuku won the 2000 referendum and now he is on the
campaign trail
again

The key change in the NCA constitution is to limit the president to two,
five-year terms of office and reduce his powers.

Under the current constitution, there is no limit to the number of terms a
president can serve. Robert Mugabe, 77, has ruled the country since independence
in 1980.

The NCA document also proposes reverting to the system of a ceremonial
president, as Zimbabwe had immediately after independence.

No confidence

The prime minister would have more executive powers but he would be
accountable to parliament, which would be able to pass a vote of no confidence
in the government.

Can this document change
Zimbabwe?

''The most serious problem in our current constitution is an all-powerful
president with all sorts of powers,'' according to Douglas Mwonzora, NCA
spokesperson.

For the next two months, the public will study and debate the proposals.

Still up for discussion are the issues of abortion, dual citizenship and the
funding of political parties.

After the final draft has been endorsed, it will be presented to the
Government of Zimbabwe with a demand that it be enacted into law.

Opposition front

But having the dismissed the NCA as front for the opposition MDC party, the
government is unlikely to accept the constitution, especially as its own draft
was rejected in last February's referendum.

Police wanted to ban the launch and monitored it
closely

The violent invasion of white-owned farms began just days after the
referendum result was announced.

Zimbabwe has not had a popular constitution since gaining independence from
Britain in 1980, following a protracted liberation struggle against the rebel
Rhodesian Government of Ian Smith.

The country has been operating on the cease fire document, signed at
Lancaster House in Britain in 1979.

Both the ruling Zanu-PF and the opposition agree that the Lancaster House
constitution is heavily flawed,

Truth and reconciliation

''The draft guarantees a multi-party system based on regular, free and fair
elections. To achieve this ideal, the bill of rights provides a set of political
rights and the draft creates a truly independent electoral commission to manage
the whole electoral process,'' said Mr Mwonzora.

Political analysts in Zimbabwe say a skewed electoral playing field has
helped the ruling party dominate all elections held since independence in 1980.

If this draft is accepted, a Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission
will be put in place.

Its functions would be to investigate matters relating to past human rights
abuses which include:

the use of armed force internally within the country,

the exercise of the powers to prosecute persons fro crime,

the use of presidential powers to pardon offenders.

The government has been accused of gross human rights abuses while some
people with close links to top political leadership have been freed from jail
under controversial presidential pardons.

For instance, when bodyguards of Vice President Simon Muzenda shot and
injured Patrick Kombayi, an opposition party candidate, the two were later
released under a presidential pardon.

And following the violence associated with last year's parliamentary
elections, Mr Mugabe announced an amnesty for all political crimes except
murder, rape and fraud.

NEW YORK-Caught unprepared once, the Zimbabwean community
in Lansing, Michigan, has vowed it will be prepared the next time if and when a
similar inevitability occurs.

Following
the death of one from their community, Douglas Nyandoro Madzudzo in July,
Zimbabweans in this community have rallied together to form what they are
calling the Zimbabwe Fund to help in the wake of death in this, a foreign land,
where most Zimbabweans live with virtually no relatives and not enough money put
aside for emergencies.

"The Zimbabwean community residing mostly in
Lansing and surrounding areas brought up this idea as reality sank in," said
Charles Kahari, chairman of the fund.

Kahari was also a cousin to the
late Nyandoro.

"With the present number of the student population, it is
inevitable that death within our community will at one time or another occur.
The idea is to take a pro-active stand."

Transport bodies

According to Kahari, the objective of the fund is to transport bodies of
members for burial back home should they meet their death while in the US.

"It is for the sole purpose of repatriating the dead for burial at home.
The fund will meet all costs involved in shipping the deceased back to
Zimbabwe," Kahari said adding that it was important to note that the fund is not
for people going home to attend funerals there. However, members could borrow
with no interest charged from the funds to enable them to go and attend other
deaths of immediate relatives at home.

Led by a seven-member committee
of mature Zimbabwean men and women, the Zimbabwe Fund has put in place measures
to ensure accountability and integrity of the group.

Registration
fee

Started in July and registered as a non-profit organisation, the
Zimbabwe Fund currently has well over 40 members. The number is expected to grow
into several hundreds as the information about the fund spreads.

"It is
open to all Zimbabweans in different parts of the United States, and we
encourage any interested individuals or familes to join," Kahari said.

The group operates on monthly membership dues at different rates for
individuals and families. There is also a one-time registration fee.

Following Madzudzo's death, Zimbabweans in Lansing demonstrated an
unprecedented unity and effort in their community, and together with the
Madzudzo relatives from back home were able to come up with enough to bury the
deceased.

Handle the problem

"When Douglas passed away we
realised, perhaps for the first time for most of us, that none of us had
prepared ourselves to handle the problem of death in a foreign land, that is why
we all thought it would be a good idea to form the fund that will cover us if a
problem of this nature falls on any one of us," said Vengai Govereh, a Lansing
Zimbabwean who is also a registered member of the Zimbabwe Fund.

Lansing
has one of the largest Zimbabwean communities in the US. Texas, North Carolina,
Boston and Lowell in Massachusetts, Atlanta, Georgia and Indiana, among others,
also have substantial Zimbabwean populations.

Terrorist attacks

According to the Zimbabwean ambassador to the US, Simbi Mubako, there
are about 5 000 Zimbabweans in America.

So far this year, there have
been four known Zimbabwean deaths in the US, including Madzudzo.

There
was Andrew Muzanembi Mutizira who passed away beginning of this year at the
US/Canada border; another Zimbabwean who died in Texas and lately the engineer
at Pentagon who was caught up in the terrorist attacks on the US two weeks ago.

According to Tichaona Jokonya, Zimbabwean ambassador to the United
States with the United Nations mission in New York, of the seven Zimbabweans
presumed caught up in the terrorist attacks, the engineer at Pentagon was the
only one confirmed dead.

Five others, suspected of being in the attacked
buildings were confirmed safe and alive. Only one was yet to be confirmed either
alive safe, injured or dead.

Still hopeful

"We can
confirm that five of our children are safe. We still have to confirm the other
one. Efforts have not been exhausted yet for that individual's whereabouts and
so we are still hopeful," Jokonya said.

Meanwhile Ambassador Mubako is
appealing to Zimbabweans to register with the embassy as soon as they arrive in
the US.

"It helps in situations like death. That way we are more able to
locate the deceased or to liaise with relatives back in Zimbabwe in arranging
for the transportation of the body," Mubako said.

When relatives
contacted the embassy with names of family members they feared dead in the
terrorist attacks, the embassy experienced some initial challenges in obtaining
information and location of the individuals as it (the embassy) had no prior
information of their whereabouts.

Mailing list

"If our
citizens are registered and are on our mailing list it becomes easier," he said.

What most Zimbabweans don't know, and Ambassador Mubako wants them to
know is that in the event of death, the body cannot be released to Zimbabwe
without some documents from the embassy and also in the event of brushes with
the law, of which there is currently a number of such cases with the embassy
right now, police contact the embassy.

Police cases the embassy is
handling right now for Zimbabweans include Zimbabweans caught without proper
visa documents, theft, fraud, drugs and other such like.

Zimbabweans in
the US interested in registering with the embassy can contact it on telephone
(202) 332-7100 or visit them at their web site at www.zimembassy-usa.org

And those interested in either membership or more information about the
Zimbabwe Fund you can contact the chairman at ckahari@hotmail.com or the
spokesman at vengai_govereh@hotmail.com.

• Maggie mzumara is a
Zimbabwean journalist, writer and social commentator currently based in New
York. She can be contacted on email: maggiemzumara@workmail.com

JOHANNESBURG, 28 September (IRIN)
- Zimbabwe's Finance Minister Simba Makoni will in two weeks present to cabinet
recommendations for a devaluation of the Zimbabwe dollar, the 'Zimbabwe
Independent' said on Friday.

The report said the attempt by Makoni to
convince cabinet to sanction a devaluation of the local dollar against the US
dollar would be the third by the minister in three months following foiled
attempts vigorously resisted by President Robert Mugabe and his colleagues in
June.

It added that the reserve Bank governor Leonard Tsumba had
submitted recommendations to Makoni for a devaluation after complaints by
airline representatives and bankers following threats that the government wanted
to impose strict sanctions on the foreign exchange market. The government has
banned airlines from quoting their fares in parallel market rates which had
soared to 350 Zimbabwe dollars against the US dollar compared to the official
exchange rate of 55 Zimbabwe dollars to the US dollar. Mugabe's cabinet
supporters have in the past argued that a devaluation of the currency would be
an act of economic sabotage.

JOHANNESBURG, 28
September (IRIN) - Donors said they would not fund an illegal land reform
programme despite comments by Zimbabwean government officials this week that the
donor community would support its fast-track land reform programme, the
'Zimbabwe Independent' said on Friday.

This week information minister
Jonathan Moyo, in a televised programme on the Abuja agreement, said that money
would be "forthcoming" to support the current land programme. On Thursday the
European Union, one of the key multilateral donors, said there had been no
commitment to support the fast-track land reform programme, the newspaper
reported.

EU spokesman in Harare Alex Kremer was quoted as saying that
the EU would support a fair, transparent and sustainable programme. "The
European Commission recognises the inequity of Zimbabwe's agrarian structure,
its historical origin and the need to redress the imbalance," said Kremer. "It
agrees that land reform can contribute to poverty reduction and is essential for
stability. The EC would therefore support land reform, including
non-governmental initiatives, provided that these are implemented in a
transparent, fair and sustainable manner, with respect for the law, broadened
stakeholder as well as beneficiary participation and the inclusion of
community-based land-redistribution initiatives," he said.

In reference
to whether or not the current land reform programme met with EU requirements, he
said: "We are not currently able to fund a programme."

Meanwhile, the
British High Commission said on Thursday that funding would only be made
available to support a legal land reform programme. Spokesman Richard Lindsay
said Abuja was very clear that Zimbabwe should proceed on the basis of a legal
agrarian process. "We would fund a programme that is legal and that is clearly
stated in Abuja. The Supreme Court has said the fast-track is illegal," he was
quoted as saying. Lindsay said the Zimbabwe government appeared to have a
"different interpretation" of Abuja from everybody else.

JOHANNESBURG, 28
September (IRIN) - Zimbabwe police on Friday ignored court orders and illegally
squashed a demonstration in Harare by a pro-democracy group launching a proposed
new national constitution, news reports said.

Reports said that about 150
riot police, armed with teargas and batons and backed up by dogs, sealed off all
entrances to the capital's central Africa Unity square where the National
Constitutional Assembly (NCA) was to launch the new draft document.

NCA
chairman Lovemore Madhuku obtained a court order instructing police not to
interfere with the demonstration, but the officer in charge of police at the
square refused to accept it.

The NCA earlier this week notified police
of their intention to hold the march to launch the new draft constitution, NCA
officials were quoted as saying. "The notification was as a matter of courtesy,
because demonstrations are a constitutional right and there is no provision in
Zimbabwean law for police to interfere with them unless they turn violent," an
NCA official said.

Harare - More than 20 fresh farm invasions
have taken place in Zimbabwe in the three weeks since a Nigerian-brokered
agreement was supposed to have put an end to the illegal land seizures by
supporters of President Robert Mugabe. Violence or threats of violence have
halted farming operations on more than 900 farms, according to the Commercial
Farmers' Union which represents the country's white farmers. It says that the
work stoppages will exacerbate Zimbabwe's food shortages. With the collapse of talks between Mr Mugabe's government and the
farmers this week, the Commonwealth agreement thrashed out in the Nigerian
capital, Abuja, was "a dead letter", a political analyst, Masipula Sithole,
said. "Mugabe is flouting it shamelessly and has no intention of keeping up his
side of the bargain," he said. "He is challenging the Commonwealth to do
something about it...to hold him to his promises to uphold good governance, the
rule of law and human rights."

The Abuja agreement called for Mr Mugabe to
stop his followers from illegally invading farms and spreading political
violence. In return for the restoration of the rule of law, the British
government said it would provide substantial funds for land redistribution. The
farmers' union had welcomed the agreement but is now frustrated following the
collapse on Wednesday of talks with the government about the implementation of
the accord's principles, such as an end to violence and the removal of the
invaders from farms not officially designated for seizure. The justice minister,
Patrick Chinamasa, was "intractable" on the issues and said the government had
no intention of taking steps to implement the agreement, sources close to the
talks said. Zimbabwe's supreme court adjourned on
Wednesday after hearing government arguments that the court should overturn an
earlier decision that ordered a halt to all compulsory farm seizures until a
plan for orderly land redistribution was produced. A "new look" supreme court is
considering the case, with a new chief justice and three new judges, all of whom
are known to be ardent supporters of Mr Mugabe. Two of the judges have been
named as leasing valuable state land originally acquired for the resettlement of
poor black peasants.

Neither Mr Mugabe nor any other cabinet
minister has publicly urged a halt to the violence or farm invasions. The
government maintains that it has always followed the rule of law and does not
need to change its policies to abide by the Abuja accord. The information
minister, Jonathan Moyo, said on television this week that there was "no such
condition in the agreement". The foreign minister, Stan Mudenge, told MPs last
week that as soon as Britain provided funds for the purchase of farms, the
violence would stop of its own accord. "That was not
the agreement reached in Abuja," a Commonwealth diplomat who was present at
those talks said. "The Mugabe government was told in no uncertain terms that
things must change, and that it must stop illegal farm invasions and political
violence. We do not see any movement towards that on the ground." In last
weekend's Chikomba by-election, a school headmaster who had been accused of
supporting the opposition Movement for Democratic Change was beaten to death,
and scores of others were beaten and tortured, according to the Zimbabwe Human
Rights Forum.

From The Cape Argus (SA), 27
September

Carry out spirit of Abuja deal,
urges Pallo

African National Congress member of parliament Pallo Jordan, in
a hard-hitting motion in parliament, chastised Zimbabwe's Information Minister
Professor Jonathan Moyo for saying that his country did not agree to curb
violence on farms. In a notice of motion in the national assembly on Wednesday,
Jordan noted statements by Moyo on the Abuja agreement and the effect that the
"extra-legal" farm invasions were having on the economies of Zimbabwe and the
region. He called on the Zimbabwean government to "follow the letter and the
spirit of the Abuja agreement" to restore stability in Zimbabwe and the region.
Under the agreement, Zimbabwe agreed to curb violence on the farms in exchange
for British financing of its land reform scheme. Moyo said: "There is no such
condition in the agreement."

From The Star (SA), 27
September

Murder-accused Zim farmer freed on
bail

Harare - A white Zimbabwean farmer, accused of inciting
violence and being an accessory in a murder case, was freed on bail on Thursday,
but about 30 of his workers remain in jail, awaiting trial, legal sources say.
John Bibby, 70, was granted bail by a High Court, but his workers were still
being held as defence lawyers awaited instructions. Bibby's lawyer Ray
Passaportis said that the defendant had been ordered to stay away from the farms
for the next four weeks, to surrender his passport, to report to police once a
week and pay a cash deposit of Z$20 000 as part of the bail conditions. The
farmer and his workers last week appeared in court and were formally charged
with the murder of two people who had just been resettled at Bita farm nearly
two weeks ago.

"The position is that they (workers) are still being detained
and no bail application has been instituted yet," a legal source said. Police
accused Bibby's workers of beating to death two of the people who went to his
farm, about 100km east of the capital, to take possession of land which had been
allocated to them under controversial government reforms. But the workers said
the two were run over by a car that was ferrying newly resettled people.
Passaportis said it was unclear why police held Bibby for 12 days but claiming
they did not have any evidence of his involvement in the unrest at his farm.
"They had actually no evidence for holding him, the only evidence they have is
that the district administrator in Hwedza believes that he was involved and
believes that he ordered his workforce to attack," he said.

Violence on Zimbabwe's white-owned farms has been common since
February 2000 when war veterans and pro-government supporters launched a
campaign to invade and occupy farms in a bid to correct colonial imbalances in
land ownership. Scores of people – black and white - have been killed in the
violence that has also been linked to political developments in the country.
International and regional diplomatic bids to restore order on the farms have so
far proved fruitless.

From The Daily News, 27
September

58 UZ students
arrested

Fifty-eight University of Zimbabwe (UZ) students were arrested
on Wednesday night after they went on a rampage, destroying property worth
thousands of dollars on the campus. Graham Hill, the UZ Vice-Chancellor,
yesterday said the student body would foot the cost of repairing the damage. He
threatened to close the halls of residence. The students say they are not happy
with the high tuition fees that the government intends to introduce as well as
the erratic disbursement of their pay-outs.

Emmanuel Mbofana, a student, was seriously injured after he
jumped from the first floor when the riot police fired teargas into the halls of
residence while several sustained minor injuries. Eddison Madondo, a Students’
Representative Council member, said Charles Mugaviri, the UZ Dean of Students,
rushed the injured students to Parirenyatwa Hospital where they were treated and
discharged. Madondo said the campus fracas started after the students clashed
with the institution’s security guards. He said: "Students were coming in from
Mount Pleasant Hall where they had expressed their displeasure over the recent
suspension of some students and the pending increase of tuition fees. When we
got into the campus, the security guards descended on them. The guards were
overwhelmed and after about an hour the riot police came and started throwing
teargas canisters at the students."

The students, said Madondo, then began destroying window panes
in some halls of residence, the campus post office and one of the kitchens. When
The Daily News visited the campus yesterday, the post office was closed and some
students, fearing further violence, were leaving, luggage in hand. Innocent
Mupara, the Students’ Representative Council president who was expelled
recently, but has appealed to the High Court against the ruling, said Hill’s
reaction would not help the situation. He said: "All the students want is a
clear policy on pay-outs and tuition fees. The threat is meant to divide us."
Meanwhile, 26 students at the Bindura University of Science Education were
arrested after they blocked the Harare-Bindura road. The students, who were due
to appear in court yesterday, allegedly stoned a bus resulting in their
arrest.

From ZWNEWS: The UZ incident took
place on Tuesday, not Wednesday, evening.

From The Daily News, 27
September

MP quizzes Nkomo over $28m CIO
fraud

Pearson Mbalekwa, the MP for Zvishavane, yesterday asked John
Nkomo, the Minister of Home Affairs, to explain to Parliament why the government
is dragging its feet in dealing with a fraud case involving over $28 million in
the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO). Mbalekwa sought to know why nothing
had been done to the former CIO deputy director-general, Lovemore Mukandi, who
was allegedly involved in the fraud case involving the construction of five
"safe houses". The Mukandi issue caused serious divisions within the CIO with
the President eventually dismissing him together with his boss, Shadreck
Chipanga, now the MP for Makoni East. The Speaker of Parliament, Emmerson
Mnangagwa, however, ruled the Zanu PF MP out of order, saying such a question
was not a policy issue, therefore, it could not be asked during the "questions
without notice" section. MDC MPs shouted Mbalekwa would be dismissed from Zanu
PF for asking such questions.

"I’m sure you remember a case of fraud in 1998 involving about
$28 million," said Mbalekwa. "What has happened to this case?" But Mbalekwa will
have to re-introduce his question with notice to the relevant minister. In July
last year the Attorney General’s Office said it was still investigating the
docket implicating Mukandi in the fraud case with the amount pegged at $17
million and this was nine months after the Criminal Investigation Department
(CID) had completed investigations. The CIO first instituted its own
investigations into the matter in 1998 before handing the matter over to the
CID. Also allegedly involved in the case are David Nyabando, a former chief
administration officer in the CIO, Ricky Nelson Silvern Yeukai Mubvumbi-Mawere,
the organisation’s former chief transport officer, and businessman Mohamed Ahmed
Meman. They allegedly defrauded the organisation of over $17 million between
June 1996 and July 1998.

From ZWNEWS, 28
September

Civil rights activists urge West to
set October deadline for Mugabe

Three leading Zimbabwe civil rights activists on a tour to
London, Brussels and Washington are urging Western countries to set a five-week
deadline for President Robert Mugabe’s government to implement conditions for
free and fair elections. "When a state fails to protect its citizens or protects
them selectively, this is anarchy," University of Zimbabwe political scientist
John Makumbe told a meeting Thursday evening at the Royal Commonwealth Society
in London. "We are close to anarchy – some would say we already have it."
Makumbe, along with former ZIPA guerrilla leader Wilfred Mhanda, and Tony
Reeler, founder of the Amani Trust which chronicles human rights abuses in
Zimbabwe, addressed the meeting – organised in association with the Zimbabwe
Democracy Trust – after lobbying in Brussels and London. They represent a loose
coalition known as the Civil Society. The trio, who head for Washington on
Saturday, acknowledged they received no firm response in London or Brussels to
their pleas. They argued to British Foreign Office and EU officials that unless
there is a return to the rule of law, a drastic decrease in state-sponsored
violence, equal access to the state-run media and acceptance of international
monitors by the end of October, next year’s presidential elections cannot be
free and fair. The elections must be held by the end of March.

Speaking from the floor, Zimbabwe’s top diplomat in Britain,
High Commissioner Simbarashe S. Mumbengegwi, accused the organisers of
``trashing’’ Zimbabwe. He maintained that Mugabe’s government permitted free
speech, and that the country’s problems stemmed solely from white ownership of
farm land. "In the whole history of Zimbabwe the question of race has been the
central question," said Mumbengegwi. "Would you all be here if the landowners in
Zimbabwe had been black," he added, to interjections of "Yes" from the
multiracial audience. Mumbengegwi declared that the Commonwealth agreement
brokered in Abuja, Nigeria, September 6 was ``the way forward.’’ The Abuja deal
called for an end to invasions of white-owned farms, a halt to political
violence and restoration of the rule of law in return for funds from Britain and
other Western countries to compensate white farmers and aid poor blacks settled
on the former commercial farms. However, some 20 more white farms have been
invaded since the September 6, and state-sponsored violence has continued
unabated, or in some areas increased. Many observers see the Mugabe government’s
tactic as paying lip service to the deal in order to fend off criticisms at a
meeting of Commonwealth leaders in Australia next month and to distract
international attention from continuing political violence and intimidation
ahead of the election.

Makumbe, describing the Abuja deal as "as dead as a dodo," said
the group was disappointed that the Foreign Office appeared to have no fall-back
position. "I think they somehow hope the crisis will go away," he added. "They
know they have offered to make money available to Mugabe on conditions Mugabe
cannot implement without losing the presidential election. This is Catch-22."
Some 120 people have been killed in political violence, almost all perpetrated
by government supporters, including self-styled war veterans and in some cases
by members of the police and the Central Intelligence Organisation, said Reeler.
About 300 people who have testified in court in election abuse cases and are now
in hiding in safe houses. Mhanda, a former guerrilla leader, told the audience:
"We see what is happening now as a betrayal of the original aims and objectives
of the liberation movement."

Comment from The Insider (Zimb), 27
September

Too Much Ado About
Abuja

Bulawayo - The Abuja Agreement, under which the Zimbabwe
government is reported to have agreed to end all illegal occupations of
white-owned farms and return the country to the rule of law in return for
financial assistance mainly from the United Kingdom, is unlikely to get off the
ground unless the ruling Zanu PF wants to commit political suicide. Although the
ruling party's supreme policy making body, the politburo, has endorsed the
agreement, observers say Zanu PF could just be buying time to let things cool
off as it has been under intense pressure. It only received temporary relief
when world attention was swayed to the terrorist attack on the World Trade
Centre and the Pentagon in the United States.

According to the agreement, although land was at the core of
the crisis in Zimbabwe, it could not be separated from other issues such as the
rule of law, respect for human rights, democracy and the economy. Land reform
had therefore to be implemented in a fair and sustainable way, in the interests
of all the people of Zimbabwe. Orderly implementation of land reform could only
be meaningful and sustainable if it was carried out with due regard to human
rights, the rule of law, transparency and democratic principles. The Zimbabwean
government agreed that there would be no further occupation of farms. It also
said it was going to speed up the de-listing of farms that did not meet the
criteria for land reform and to move occupiers from farms that are not
designated. It also said it was committed to the return of the rule of law and
freedom of expression. But perhaps the most important reason both parties were
interested in signing the deal was the need to avoid a division within the
Commonwealth, especially at its heads of government meeting in Brisbane,
Australia.

Before the agreement there was pressure to bar Mugabe from
attending the summit in Australia. He can safely go now and perhaps renege on
the agreement on his return. One political observer said the Abuja Agreement was
a major coup for Mugabe because it gave him time while it gave farmers false
hope that they could be compensated. The agreement is full of loopholes which
Mugabe could exploit to back out. He can argue, as he has done in the past, that
there is rule of law in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe has a law which says it is entitled
to take over white farms without compensation. It does not need to move out any
occupiers because almost all farms have been designated. Besides, there is a law
that bars anyone from moving occupiers from land they would have occupied. By
moving them out, Zimbabwe would be breaking its own laws. All the other reasons
fall away as Zimbabwe is already claiming that it is a democratic country and
the ruling Zanu PF brought democracy to this country so no one can preach to it
about democracy.

But most important of all, reneging on its promises for land
redistribution would be political suicide for Zanu PF as it is now the only
election platform it has. The ruling party has lost the powerful women's league
to the opposition Movement for Democratic Change largely because of the
hardships people are now facing. Inflation has shot up to 76 percent and is
expected to peak at 100 or above before the end of the year. Poor households are
the worst affected. It has also lost the youth to the MDC because of increasing
unemployment. Its only base is now the war veterans and they are for the
fast-track resettlement not the gradual resettlement which the Abuja Agreement
advocates. While Zanu PF is in a Catch 22 because it badly needs money but at
the same time needs crucial votes for the coming presidential elections,
observers say, it will opt for the votes because it is desperate to win the
presidential elections at any cost. That cost could be peace and stability which
it has already sacrificed since February 2000.

Currency management will continue to
be a problem as long as there is nocomprehensive approach to bring all the
key variables in line, recentlylisted Trust Holdings says in its maiden
half-year report as a listedcompany.

The company says it is now
evident that there is a thriving parallel marketas exporters seek to
maximise their returns while importers are desperate tobring in raw
materials and essential capital items.

It says the negative effects
of the shortage of foreign currency have beensevere. They include outright
company closures, with some reports sayingthat more than 400 companies have
shut down, downsizing of operationsleading to unemployment and higher costs
of production that undermineprofits and fuel inflation.

Inflation
stood at 64.4 percent at the end of June and was likely to risebecause of
the looming food shortages and the necessity to import, erraticfood prices
which were prone to changes in weather conditions, and thedeclining dollar
on the parallel market due to a severe shortage of
foreigncurrency.

In its results for the period ending June, Trust
says it had a net profit of$626.6 million following excellent performance by
its merchant bank, stockbroking and premium finance operations.

The
company which broke records when its initial public offer wasoversubscribed
by 21.6 times, had an operating income of $1.4 billion withinterest income
contributing 62 percent.

Trust Banking Corporation had a net profit of
$573.4 million, an increase of406 percent from the same period last year
when it had a profit of $113.4million. The profit was 89 percent above that
of the whole of 2000 whichstood at $303.5 million.

Although interest
and discount income only rose marginally from $501.2million to $632 million,
net interest income shot up by 415 percent from$82.4 million to $424.5
million because of a drastic reduction in interestexpense from $418.8
million to $207.6 million.

Operating income shot up from $364.8 million
to $1.2 billion largely due toa significant increase in trading income which
increased from$144.4 millionto $733.7 million.

Trustfin also had an
equally excellent performance with net profitincreasing more than four-fold
from $11.2 million to $48.6 million.

The persistent shortages of fuel and foreign currency
has had theunfortunate effect of creating a few rich people and making many
poorer, theMerchant Bank of Central Africa (MBCA) says in its latest
results. It doesnot, however, elaborate on how the few have become
rich.

The bank says low interest rates introduced in January, while meant
to boostthe productive sector, had adversely affected the revenue
generatingcapacity of banks. Although it had also boosted the stock market,
it hadbeen restrictive for the corporate sector because the low interest
rates hadaccelerated the shortages of foreign currency and pushed the
effectiveexchange rate unsustainably ahead of the official
rate.

According to the bank's results, interest income dropped by more
than halffrom $975.5 million to $440.1 million but net interest income was
slightlyhigher at $256.6million from $250.7 million. Fees and commissions,
however,increased from $137 million to $193.3 million.

Dealing
profits were up from $58milion to $101.2 million and other incomeincreased
from $1.5 million to $5.5 million resulting in operating incomegoing up from
$447.2 million to $556.6 million. Profit before taxationincreased from
$269.9 million to $394.6 million and net profit rosefrom$184.1 million to
$266.2 million.

Brian
Hungwe WAR veterans have forwarded a list of new
demands to President Robert Mugabe including a 300% hike in their monthly
pensions from $5 000 to $15 000, the Zimbabwe Independent heard yesterday.

If Mugabe approves the new set of demands, over $450 million of public
funds will be going into the pockets of an estimated 30 000 war veterans, some
of whom are gainfully employed.

President Mugabe has until December to
address the grievances of the veterans.

They also want the government to
grant them title deeds to the farms they have occupied and give them fertiliser
and maize seed.

The demands, Zanu PF sources said, were meant to put a
squeeze on Mugabe before the presidential poll next year as the ex-combatants
have played a leading role in campaigning for the ruling party.

War
veterans association secretary-general Andy Mhlanga told the Independent
yesterday that they were now “more mature”, and had since abandoned their
confrontational approach to issues and have been communicating through proper
channels.

“We forwarded our concerns through the party to President
Mugabe,” Mhlanga said.

“We have not received our response but we are
sure he is looking into our concerns,” he said.

Mhlanga confirmed that
the war veterans wanted their allowances to be upped to $15 000 and that they
also wanted title deeds to the farms they invaded. They are also demanding
financial back-up and fertilisers to start farming as the growing season was
nearing.

“The government has not yet responded to our calls for the
increases and we shall be making follow ups,” Mhlanga said.

Another war
veteran said it made no sense for war veterans to get an allowance of $2 000 per
month, “far less than the $10 000 which village heads are receiving. We are more
important than village heads,” he said.

The war veterans said that they
could not embark on the presidential election campaign on empty stomaches.

“Most of our colleagues are suffering. You enter into a shop and come
out with nothing and we feel our allowances need to be reviewed in respect of
this,” Mhlanga said.

Mugabe, who gave in to extortionate demands by the
war veterans in 1997 when they besieged him at State House demanding gratuities
and pensions for the “injuries” they sustained in the liberation war, has until
December to look into the demands of the war veterans.

In 1997, Mugabe
released over $4 billion from Treasury to meet the demands of the war
veterans, sending the dollar into a tailspin.

THERE has been a
mischievous rumour doing the rounds on the Internet suggesting CNN used old
footage to show Palestinians celebrating the attack on the World Trade Centre.
The mailings, which originated in Brazil, claimed CNN used material filmed at
the time of the invasion of Kuwait.

CNN, in response to inquiries from
this newspaper, among others, has said “there is absolutely no truth to the
information that is now distributed on the Internet that CNN used 10-year-old
video when showing the celebrating of some Palestinians in East Jerusalem after
the terror attacks in the US”.

The video was shot that day by a Reuters
camera crew, CNN says.

“CNN is a client of Reuters and, like other
clients, received the video and broadcast it. Reuters officials have publicly
made the facts clear as well. The allegation is false. The source of the
allegation has withdrawn it and apologised. It was started by a Brazilian
student who now says he immediately posted a correction once he knew the
information was not true.”

A statement by his university, Unicamp —
Universidad Estatal de Campinas-Brasil — said: “Unicamp would like to announce
that it has no knowledge of a video-tape from 1991 whose images supposedly aired
on CNN showing Palestinians celebrating the terrorist attacks in the US. The
tape was supposedly from 1991, and there were rumours that the images were
passed off as current.

“This information was later denied, as soon as it
proved false, by Márcio AV Carvalho, a student at Unicamp. He approached the
administration today, 17.09.2001, to clarify the following: the information he
got, verbally, was that a professor from another institution (not from Unicamp)
had the tape; he sent the information to a discussion group e-mail list; many
people from this list were interested in the subject and requested more details;
he again contacted the person who first gave him the information and the person
denied having the tape; the student immediately sent out a note clarifying what
happened to the people from his e-mail list,” the university said.

“The
original message, however, was distributed all over the world, often with many
distortions, including a falsified by-line article from the student. He affirms
that a hacker attacked his domain. Several e-mails have been sent on his behalf
and those dating from 15.09.2001 should be ignored.

“Among the
distortions is the fact that Unicamp would be analysing the tape, which is
absolutely false. The administration considers this alert definitive and will be
careful to avoid new rumours.”

As a result of this episode the New York
Times on Monday carried an article highlighting the danger of Internet rumours.
This one ranks second only to the one about how to make money from Microsoft by
sending out chain letters which dozens of people in Zimbabwe fell for despite
our warnings when it first surfaced a couple of years ago.

While on the
subject of gullibility we weren’t surprised to see ZTV’s Reuben Barwe taking the
Rhodesians Worldwide website seriously. They have a link to the Rhodesian
“government in exile” which is of course a spoof government, including as it
does a “Minister for Breweries”.

But Reuben, in pursuit of a conspiracy,
took this all literally as “proof” (hopefully non-alcoholic) of a plot against
the president. Last year he was expecting “evidence” to turn up in a diplomatic
bag! ZBC is also taking seriously a silly e-mail that purports to show a
link between the flight number of one of the doomed planes, Q33 NY, and a
diagram of the attack.

“If you have MS Word, type in Q33 NY (the flight
number of one of the airplanes that crashed into the WTC). Then change the font
size to 26 and change the font to Wingdings,” the e-mail says. This could be
linked to the bombings, ZBC surmised, or it could be a computer virus.

It could also be a load of hogwash. Q33 NY is not a number of any of the
flights involved. It is in fact a New York bus number.

The guys at
Pockets Hill appear to be unaware that Wingdings is a form of font that converts
letters into pictures and symbols. Any decent computer with MS Word has the font
so you can see it for yourself. Go to Format and select the Font “Wingdings”
which should be at the bottom of the scroll.

We were amused by Jonathan
Moyo’s remarks that the CFU’s court affidavit seeking Chief Justice Godfrey
Chidyausiku’s recusal “had unwittingly exposed some judges by giving the
unfortunate impression that they were in the pockets of the CFU”.

Presumably then, by the same logic, Moyo’s remarks in support of
Chidyausiku give the impression that the Chief Justice is in the pocket of
President Mugabe — or worse still Moyo?

And who was that Inyika Trust
spokesman attacking former Chief Justice Anthony Gubbay in the same Herald
article? Why doesn’t he identify himself so we can see the link with Moyo?

It is interesting to note that in addressing the international community
the government pretends the dispute with the judiciary was settled “amicably”.
Yet in its domestic propaganda it allows its proxies such as the Inyika Trust —
meaning its legal spokesman who also happens to be Moyo’s lawyer — to trash the
former Chief Justice in violation of the terms agreed between Gubbay and the
government.

And why is it racist to accuse Chidyausiku of bias? Wasn’t
it the view of dozens of black lawyers who wrote to the Law Society when his
appointment was being mooted that he is biased in favour of Zanu PF? Isn’t that
a view widely held by Zimbabweans from different backgrounds since his maladroit
handling of the constitutional commission’s deliberations?

And why do
some of his colleagues think that episode, in which he demonstrated manifest
partiality, should not be cited in a court hearing where he is being asked to
exercise judicial independence? Why should his record be regarded as irrelevant?

But no, Chidyausiku insisted, he would not recuse himself.

What
a contrast to the behaviour of those judges who voluntarily re cused themselves
when Chidyausiku heard the citizenship case!

In the proceedings last
week Chidyausiku made a number of remarks about the land issue that could at
best be described as naive.

“We are likely to have a breakdown in the
rule of law where we have a law that acquires notoriety of three quarters of the
popuation,” he opined.

Which law is that? The law passed by Zanu PF in
1992 and amended last year? And what is his view of the majority of voters who
repudiated the clauses on land which he did nothing to prevent President Mugabe
inserting in the constitutional proposals last year?

Why doesn’t he give
any regard to the views of the majority that legally and democratically
expressed itself on the issue at the polls?

Jonathan Moyo was once again
threatening journalists last week when he addressed a meeting with academics in
Gweru.

Asked about the arrest of journalists, he replied: “We are
arresting them because they are breaking the law and we will continue to arrest
them.”

This showed Zimbabwe upheld the rule of law, he said.

But
he omitted to say which law. The law currently being used by the CID to detain
and question journalists is the Law and Order (Maintenance) Act (1960, as
amended 1962-79).

Why is this law being used when the government has
professed its distaste for all things colonial? Selective justice, it would
appear, favours Rhodesia.

And haven’t successive ministers promised to
repeal it because it is anomalous? Is this the law Moyo wants upheld?

“The police have to do their jobs...” he said. But isn’t it his job they
are doing?

Moyo followed up these remarks with a vicious and defamatory
attack on Basildon Peta which the Herald — once again flouting the most
elementary precept of media ethics — published without asking Peta for his
comments. Moyo accused Peta of being an “economic terrorist” by writing
“negative articles” on the land issue that were damaging to Zimbabwe.

In
fact it is the plain truth that is damaging to Zanu PF. It must be evident to
everybody now that the government has no intention of upholding the terms of the
Abuja agreement. Far from winning over international opinion or discomfiting the
MDC, the agreement has simply exposed the yawning chasm between government
promises and reality on the ground. Peta is not alone in pointing that out. In
fact, with the exception of the emasculated state media, everybody has.

Moyo accused Peta of writing negative articles “in order to earn a
couple of British pounds”. Does Moyo think everybody has forgotten how much he
earned in the 1990s working for the Ford Foundation and other donors? He
presumably wasn’t paid in Zim dollars!

Now he is earning his keep by
“echoing the president’s sentiments”, as the Sunday Mail so helpfully put it.

The paper was reporting Mugabe’s speech to the central committee in
which he tried to put a brave face on the humiliating rebuff the party — and in
particular Moyo — had suffered in Bulawayo which no amount of rigged
by-elections in Zanu PF’s heartland can compensate for.

Zanu PF had “a
strong basis for recovering support in urban areas”, the president said.

There was everywhere “palpable disenchantment” with the opposition and
“people want to be walked back to their party”, he said.

We thought only
children and the infirm had to be “walked”. And who is it exactly that the
country is expressing “palpable disenchantment” with?

What planet has he
just come down from? There is massive disenchantment with him and his useless
cronies who preside over the country’s ruin.

And what is his answer to
the myriad problems the country is facing? The leadership must be “firm”, he
said, and united in “singing the song of land to the people”.

That
sounds a bit like a broken record to us. But Moyo it seems is prepared to join
any chorus that pays well!

Who by the way are the real “economic
terrorists”? Those who write about the anarchy on the land, or those who have
occupied undesignated farms and prevented farmers from planting crops? We are
already seeing the cost of the economic terrorism Moyo’s party has unleashed in
the collapse of agriculture and looming food imports.

As for Mugabe’s
observation that Morgan Tsvangirai was “like a mad man who goes everywhere”, do
we detect a note of pique? Now Mugabe can hardly go anywhere he understandably
resents doors being opened to Tsvangirai, especially in places like Pretoria.

And why does the president have to keep reminding us that he is a head
of state? Is there some doubt surrounding this? Chogm is for heads of state
only, he reminded Tsvangirai.

Chogm may indeed be for heads of
government (not heads of state as Mugabe appears to think) but the Commonwealth
can no longer remain indifferent to civil society. The president, it seems, has
yet to take on board the accommodations Sadc leaders were urging on him at their
meeting in Harare recently.

Holding forth in the Sunday Mail on the
prospect of US retaliation against Afghanistan after the attack on the World
Trade Centre, Garikai Mazara observes: “It would be folly of the highest order
for America to assume that Bin Laden carried out those acts, if indeed he
carried them out, single-handedly.”

Since when has the US suggested he
carried out the acts single-handedly?

Haven’t they said the opposite —
that he is part of a worldwide network? And why does Mazara tell us the Soviets
were in Afghanistan for two decades? How many years is 1979-89? Finally, was
Cambodia’s “Lon Col” any relation of premier Lon Nol who took over in 1970?

We appreciate the Sunday Mail wants to beef up its op/ed sections, but
what it calls “Analysis” should be reasonably factual and not just a rather
poorly researched anti-American diatribe that looks as if it has come from the
Osama bin Mahoso School of Journalism.